The present invention may relate to the implant attachment systems for attaching dental implant surgical guides to dental implants. More specifically, the present invention may relate to those implant attachment means that are used on dental implant surgical guides that may be subsequently incorporated into dental prostheses.
Dental implant surgical guides may be used for the placement of implant drills, implant reamers, dental implants, and other dental implements at a dental implant site in a mouth of a patient to help ensure that such placed dental implements achieve the proper and desired telemetry and location. Similarly, dental implant surgical guides can be used in practice on a model of a patient's mouth to test the placement and positioning of dental implements. Normally after the implants (e.g., post-type implants) have been placed in the mouth through the use of the dental implant surgical guide, the dental implant surgical guide could be removed from the mouth and generally be discarded. In some dental implant/prosthesis surgeries, a connecting bar may be further attached to the dental implants to substantially form a bar/implant configuration for the dental prosthesis attachment. After suitable testing and fitting, a prosthesis may then be attached to the dental implants and/or connecting bar/implant configuration to secure the dental prosthesis in the patient's mouth.
It has been found that the dental implant surgical guide could be used to replace the connecting bar to save on costs and labor in the implant process. The dental implant surgical guide can be further incorporated into the dental prosthesis by attaching the dental implant surgical guide within an open channel in the bottom of the dental prosthesis or by generally being enclosed within the dental prosthesis interior formed by two halves of a prosthesis. Rather than discarding the dental implant surgical guide, the dental implant surgical guide can be added to the dental prosthesis structure to generally increase the structural integrity and load-carrying capacity of the dental prosthesis.
One possible issue with the incorporation of the dental implant surgical guide into the dental prosthesis could be the attachment of the dental implant surgical guides to the placed dental implants. Generally to control the telemetry and position of the implants, dental implant surgical guides may have guide cylinders forming double open-ended guide channels through which the dental implants may pass to be located to the respective dental surgical site (or dental surgical site model). As such, dental implant surgical guides when located over the dental implants may have an open area, the guide channel, that is directly located over the placed implant thereby generally eliminating any material (e.g., metal) that may rest upon and be subsequently used to attach the dental implant surgical guide to the implant.
One possible solution to this issue could the present invention's attachment system of an abutment, an implant mounting and a cap. The abutment and implant mounting being combined with an otherwise unsecured implant outside of the dental implant surgical guide (e.g., outside of the patient's mouth) to form an implant combination wherein the implant, implant abutment, and most of the implant mount are able to pass though the guide channel. The implant mount at its otherwise unattached end could have a rim with a greater diameter/circumference than that of the guide channel so that the rim cannot pass through the guide channel. In this implant combination, the implant mount may be attached to one abutment end of the abutment, the abutment may be attached by its other abutment end to the implant to create a generally an overall columnar form. The assembled implant combination can then be inserted into the respective guide channel of the surgical guide. The implant mount can be engaged by a tool (e.g., wrench) so the entire combination can be moved within the guide channel to substantially allow threads of the implant to substantially engage the prepared implant shaft at the dental implant site. As the implant combination is generally secured to the dental surgical site (or model thereof), the rim may be drawn into contact with the top of guide cylinder. In this manner, the rim overall anchors the dental implant surgical guide to the implant in a manner that resists those outward forces that may pull the dental implant surgical guide way from the dental implant.
The cap could be subsequently attached to the top of the guide cylinder to sandwich the rim between the guide cylinder and cap to substantially resist those forces which may direct the dental implant surgical guide towards the implant. This cap attachment action may also move the dental implant surgical guide up tight against the rim in a manner to further bring the dental implant surgical guide into a more complete alignment with the placed implants.